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Part of the Greater Anglia Rail franchise has been sold to a Japanese firm

Abellio is to sell 40% of its Greater Anglia rail franchise to Japanese company Mitsui, saying the joint venture will lead to "significant improvements" for passengers.

Abellio said the announcement fulfils its objective of finding a suitable
partner to run Greater Anglia in a 60:40 joint venture.

Dominic Booth, managing director of Abellio, said:

We are delighted to have reached agreement with Mitsui, fulfilling our long-standing objective of running the franchise as a 60:40 joint venture.

– Dominic Booth, Abellio

Not everyone is happy through. Mick Cash from the RMT Union said

This latest sell-off by Abellio of a chunk of the Greater Anglia franchise to Mitsui shows that the Britain's rail network is up constantly for grabs, making a mockery of the very expensive Department for Transport franchising process.

– Mick Cash, RMT

Abellio won the Greater Anglia franchise again last August, having first
operated it from February 2012.